Shutdown changes pace for White House staffers

Place a call to White House press secretary Jay Carney these days, and it’ll lead to something surprising on the other end: Jay Carney.

The White House is a building of gatekeepers — legions of assistants and special assistants and deputy assistants who protect their bosses and keep the place running. But the White House under the government shutdown, pared down to a fourth of its usual staff size, is a shadow of its hierarchical self.

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Principal deputy press secretary Josh Earnest stepped in for the shuttered White House Travel Office, sending the notification to the press charter company that the last two legs of President Barack Obama’s Asia trip were canceled.

Katie Beirne Fallon, the deputy White House communications director and a former top strategist for the Senate Democratic leadership, has spent the past week compiling Carney’s daily briefing book — a task usually handled by junior aides.

“I’m hole punching for Jay,” Fallon said.

White House aides are loath to portray the disruption as comparable in any way to the upheaval felt by families losing a Head Start slot for their child, businesses that can’t get loans processed, and veterans who depend on disability payments. But the shutdown has scrambled the way the West Wing operates, creating annoyances, extra work and lots of open desk space.

“Everybody is having to do different things,” Carney said. “It makes you appreciate even more what your colleagues do everyday.”

On a normal day, more than 1,700 people work for the Executive Office of the President, packing into precious real estate in the West Wing, the adjacent Eisenhower Office Building and elegant townhouses across Pennsylvania Avenue.

But since the impasse over government funding forced the first shutdown in 17 years Tuesday, only 440 people are able to report to work.

The Office of the White House has been scaled back to 130 employees, down from 440. The tight quarters feel downright spacious, the vibe more informal despite the increased workload.

Vice President Joe Biden’s staff is half the size, with only 12 people. The Council of Economic Advisers, usually two dozen employees strong, is staffed by four people. And the Office of National Drug Control Policy is a ghost town, with only 8 out of 88 employees showing up each day.

The biggest change for those who haven’t been furloughed is that they have to pull double and triple duty, juggling their usual duties with those carried out by furloughed co-workers.

Earnest and deputy press secretaries, Amy Brundage and Eric Schultz, had to learn the basic functions of the press office: routing releases through the correct White House email lists, working the announcement system for the press room, wrangling the media at events and clearing visitors at the security gate for Oval Office appointments.

Earnest had to send the email to the press charter company because the entire travel and advance staff, at that point, had been furloughed, even though Obama was scheduled to leave Saturday for Indonesia and Brunei. The White House called Johanna Maska, the director of press advance, back to the job after only four hours away from her post. But the trip ended up being canceled late Thursday night.

The White House is managing not just one major news story — the budget impasse and government shutdown — but the rollout of the biggest government health care program in 50 years.

Jessica Santillo, the White House spokeswoman who handles media requests on Obamacare, got furloughed as the insurance marketplaces opened. Her boss, senior communications adviser Tara McGuinness, decamped from the Eisenhower Office Building to a postage-stamp-sized desk steps away from Fallon and communications director Jennifer Palmieri, who are each splitting health care duties in the absence of countless aides.

It’s harder for staff to track down harried senior advisers, most of whom are working without the assistants who schedule their day, field their calls and know how to get to them in a pinch. One official lamented the challenge of reaching Gene Sperling, the president’s loquacious chief economic adviser, who is without his chief of staff during the shutdown.

The impact on Obama himself remains unclear, although his residence has been stripped of staff, down to 15 workers from 90.

During last government shutdown, those staff included one daytime chef and one for the evening, who left after serving dinner, the AP reported then. One butler and one usher were kept on duty during the day, as were one of each at night, plus two daytime housekeepers and one evening housekeeper.

Aides said nothing appeared vastly different around the Oval Office. His body man, Marvin Nicholson, is still on the job, and his assistants remain at their perch outside his office. His senior advisers are still working.

One major change: Obama can’t go very far from the White House. He’s usually most content when he can get out of Washington, but he’s had to stick close to home because of the manpower and pre-planning required whenever he steps off the White House grounds.

His attempt to get away Thursday amounted to motorcading to Rockville, Md., just outside the Capital Beltway, where he delivered a speech on the shutdown and Obamacare at a construction company.

The trash in the West Wing is still being picked up and the bathrooms are being cleaned, but the culinary options are limited — with so few people coursing through the building, the White House cafeteria has scaled back its food service.

Only takeout. No daily specials. The peanut butter and jelly sandwich proved more popular than the grilled cheese Wednesday night among aides who had to stick around for Obama to wrap up his meeting with congressional leaders.

“Fresh & Delicious,” Carney tweeted at reporters who, lacking anything better to do while waiting outside the West Wing, were peering into the press secretary office’s and tweeting about his PB&J on whole wheat.